Conventional techniques to determine the range of a source in the far-field of an antenna generally require a large number of samples taken over time. Furthermore, these conventional techniques use complex algorithms that require significant processing resources and energy. This makes it difficult to quickly and efficiently determine the range of a source using passive techniques. In some applications, quick, accurate and efficient techniques to determine range are desirable. Examples of these applications include air-traffic control (ATC), collision avoidance, missile fusing and target detection.
Thus, there are general needs for a system and method for passively estimating angle and range of a source using less signal samples. There are also general needs for a system and method for passively estimating angle and range of a source that requires fewer computations. There are also general needs for a system and method for passively estimating angle and range of a source that can extend range estimation beyond the Fresnel region into the antenna's far-field.